NUS launches 'liar, liar' campaign over tuition fees

The National Union of Students has launched a campaign against MPs who broke a pledge on tuition fees. Credit: National Unions of Students

A national advertising campaign has been launched by the National Union of Students (NUS) targeting MPs who broke their 2010 promise not to increase university tuition fees.

The hard-hitting billboards with the message 'Broken promises leave a permanent mark...' above an image of two fists tattooed with the words 'liar, liar' will be unveiled in London, Sheffield and Manchester.

The NUS said advertising vans will also be targeting the, mainly Liberal Democrats, seats held by "pledge breakers" such as Nick Clegg, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander and Business Secretary Vince Cable.

A total of 28 Liberal Democrats MPs signed a pre-2010 general election pledge to scrap tuition fees, but then voted in favour of trebling them to a maximum of £9,000 in December 2010, the union said.

A further eight Lib Dem MPs who had backed the pledge abstained or were absent from the December vote.

The union also claimed that two Conservative MPs broke the pledge.

A Liberal Democrat spokesman said: "We did not win the election, so we could not deliver every policy that we wanted to, especially as we went into government with a party that was determined to raise fees at a time when there's no money.

"Instead we tried to get the fairest deal we could."